Use social media 'power' in mental health discussions, students urged

Dr. Gia Sison, cancer survivor and mental health advocate, delivering her talk on depression and stigma.

An occupational medicine doctor and alumna of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) lauded students for their impact on social media movements in a mental health forum held at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex Auditorium last September 11.

Cancer survivor and mental health advocate Dr. Gia Sison urged students to speak up, which she said is one of the first steps to defeat mental health stigma in her talk titled “Depression and Stigma.”

She praised the involvement of the youth on social media for supporting the Mental Health Act, which passed its final reading in the Senate on May 2 of this year.

"Alam niyo ba, 'yung boses niyo, sa sobrang lakas, unang binasa 'yan [mental health bill] sa House of Representatives, sa sobrang lakas niyo sa social media," she said.

"[Social media is] your power. Use it wisely and responsibly," Sison added

Sison, who admitted to be fond of blogging, acknowledged the influence of online platforms in lobbying change and driving causes against stigma, taboos and labels.

"It's about time," she said. "It's time we talk about it because it's true, and it's there."

Also speakers at the forum were UST Psychotrauma Clinic supervising psychologist Renz Christian Argao, who delivered a talk on the youth’s mental health, and health policy consultant Dr. Joseph Lachica, who delivered a speech in behalf of Senator Risa Hontiveros.

Lachica said during the open forum that collective actions such as engaging in broader discussions on social media affect legislators, especially when they are swamped with letters, messages and comments online.

"Na-i-influence niyo yung policy-making [process] in the country by being that constituency na talagang nag-e-engage actively sa mga political figures natin," Lachica said.

‘EJK affects mental health’

Argao said Extra Judicial Killings (EJK) affect the mental health of Filipinos and expressed his concern that the administration "ruined the moral fabric of Philippine society."

According to Argao, when viewed in a psychological perspective, a person seeing and hearing about killings in the news every day could develop trauma symptoms anywhere between 72 hours to 30 years after an event.

"It may not affect you today. It may not affect you next week, [or] next year," he said. "Puwedeng 20 years later, may symptoms ka ng trauma, you don’t know kung saan nanggaling. Maybe, [it is] because of what you see in the news today."

Argao also called for a halt on the normalization of killings, saying that upholding values countering impunity is important as the culture of impunity “creates an idea that death is a solution” and will greatly affect the next generations in the long run.

"I'm really against the killings [because] it's affecting the core of each and every one of us. If mayroong masisira itong administration, it's the inner part of our society," he said.

'Thinking Straight: Mental Health in the Lens of Politics', organized by The Political Science Forum of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, is a seminar aimed to explore the significance of mental health in the country and society from a political point of view.

The Mental Health Act or Senate Bill No. 1354, seeks to integrate more accessible and affordable mental health services in the Philippine public health system. DANEA PATRICIA VILOG